Saturday, articles about this petition were published in the Tokyo Shimbun and HuffPost.

The Tokyo Shimbun’s headline was "Tokyo slow to disclose information on tree felling plan for Jingu Gaien redevelopment: 48,000 people sign online petition asking for review.” The article points out that there is a discrepancy in the numbers given for how many trees are going to be cut down -- 892 was the number mentioned at the City Planning Council meeting and 917 was the number mentioned in the draft environmental impact report submitted by the developer to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government last July. Disappointingly, Mitsui Fudosan declined to give the newspaper an explanation for the discrepancy.

The HuffPost's article "Cutting down 1,000 trees in Jingu Gaien is 'destruction of history and culture’; 50,000 signatures against redevelopment" was based on a detailed interview with Mikiko Ishikawa, a professor specializing in urban environmental planning at Chuo University, who researched the impact of the redevelopment plan on Jingu Gaien.

What most caught my attention in this article was this quote from Professor Ishikawa:

“When asked about transplanting of trees that are over 100 years old, she said, ‘If the trunk and roots are healthy, you can transplant the tree, but (during the transplantation process) the tree will be pruned so much that it will look like a telegraph pole and its original beauty will be completely lost. Also, the cost (of transplanting) is enormous, and it is unclear where the trees will be transplanted.’”

When the new National Stadium was built, the beautiful trees at the Kasumigaoka Apartments (which were torn down to make way for the new stadium) were transplanted at the request of the residents.

The other day, I went to see those transplanted trees. I’m pasting below some photos I took of them. Just as Professor Ishikawa said, the transplanted trees are not very beautiful. They look like soldiers after a battle. I am concerned that the trees in Jingu Gaien will end up the same way.

Please share these two articles widely!

In other news, we are now at over 51,000 signers on this petition. Thanks everyone for your support.

This Wednesday (March 2nd), I will officially submit the formal request letter and the list of signatures to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. I am hoping to collect as many signatures as possible before then. Please help spread the word further!

Think global, act local 

One last comment. I am very concerned about the war in Ukraine right now, and I can't take my eyes off the news. I am sure the same is true for many of you.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European countries are considering ending their dependence on natural gas from Russia.

This will lead to a further shift in the global energy market and will hopefully be a spur to reduction in CO2 emissions. Japan also needs to make a major shift to a decarbonized society.

I call on Governor Koike to revise the Jingu Gaien re-development plan into a project that will lead the way in decarbonization.

Let’s "Think global, act local" here in Tokyo.